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redletterdave (2493036) writes "Though its competitors are more experienced and better funded, 9to5Mac has established itself as the go-to website for Apple news. It's regularly cited by the most influential news outlets in the world, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. But 9to5Mac can also ruffle the feathers of its competition — namely, other Apple blogs. 'It is pretty cut throat behind the scenes, and you can imagine how rough it is,' says Seth Weintraub, 9to5Mac's founder, and publisher."Link to Original Source

redletterdave (2493036) writes "Google on Monday announced it would pull its support from The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) due to the organization’s ongoing denial of climate change. 'The facts of climate change are not in question anymore, everyone understands that climate change is occurring, and the people who oppose it are really hurting our children and our grandchildren and making the world a much worse place, and we should not be aligned with such people,' Google chairman Eric Schmidt said in a statement. But why did Google ever support this organization in the first place?"Link to Original Source

redletterdave (2493036) writes "Police discovered Rex Chapman, the former Kentucky Wildcats star and NBA player, had stolen over $14,000 worth of goods from an Apple Store in Scottsdale, Ariz., and offloaded the lifted items at a nearby pawn shop. Chapman was arrested Friday on nine counts of organized retail theft and five counts of trafficking stolen property. According to police, Chapman, 46, repeatedly visited the Apple Store in the Scottsdale Quarter retail center and made it seem like he was paying for items with his iPhone’s Apple Store application, which contains a self-checkout system called 'Easy Pay' so customers can buy Apple products without an employee. Chapman, however, would then leave the store without actually paying for the items, and visit a local pawn shop to exchange the goods for cash. Police said these occurrences happened over period of 'a few months.'"Link to Original Source

redletterdave (2493036) writes "Apple’s various executives have reportedly discussed a $400 price point for its wearable device, possibly called 'iWatch' or 'iBand,' which is expected to debut at the company's Sept. 9 event — although the price may not be announced at that time. A $400 price point would certainly fall into the high-end range for current wearable devices, but sources close to the company say 'consumers should expect a range of prices for different models including lower priced versions.'"Link to Original Source

redletterdave (2493036) writes "Microsoft announced on its Windows blog Wednesday that it’s removed more than 1,500 apps from its Windows Store in a bid to clean up the store and restore trust with Windows 8 and Windows Phone users. Microsoft’s new certification process, in particular, asks for clear and accurate names that 'reflect the functionality of the app,' more accurate categories, and differentiated icons to ensure apps aren’t confused with one another. Microsoft reached out to developers with apps that violated its policies; some agreed to make changes to their software, while those who were 'less receptive' saw their apps removed from the Windows Store."Link to Original Source

redletterdave (2493036) writes "Remember beepers? Those little clip-on electronics that allowed you to communicate with others without using a telephone? Well OnBeep, a San Francisco startup, just raised $6.25 million to make a dedicated piece of hardware so groups can talk to one another with the press of a button without having to fiddle with a smartphone. In other words, they're making a beeper."Link to Original Source

redletterdave (2493036) writes "When Steve Ballmer announced he was stepping down from Microsoft’s board of directors, he cited a fall schedule that would 'be hectic between teaching a new class and the start of the NBA season.' It turns out Ballmer will teach an MBA class at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business in the fall, and a class at USC’s Marshall School of Business in the spring. Helen Chang, assistant director of communications at Stanford’s Business School, told Business Insider that Ballmer will be working with faculty member Susan Athey for a strategic management course called 'TRAMGT588: Leading organizations.' As for the spring semester, Ballmer will head to Los Angeles — closer to where his Clippers will be playing — and teach a course at University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. We reached out to the Marshall School, which declined to offer more details about Ballmer’s class."Link to Original Source

redletterdave (2493036) writes "Nintendo has never released a Pokémon game in Chinese. This is a bit of a surprise because Pokémon is Nintendo's second-most lucrative franchise after Mario, has been around for almost 20 years now. It's even more surprising since Nintendo doesn't ignore the Chinese market. Nintendo has released China-specific DS and 3DS handheld consoles in the country, under the company’s 'iQue' brand, but the Kyoto, Japan-based company has never offered Chinese language support in any of its Pokémon games. Fans are looking to change that: According to SCMP, nearly 10,000 people have signed a petition (English version here) calling for Nintendo to translate its latest series, Pokemon X and Y, into Chinese."Link to Original Source

redletterdave (2493036) writes "Thousands of fans quickly responded to a petition asking game developer Activision-Blizzard to insert Robin Williams into one of his favorite video games, 'World of Warcraft.' In less than 16 hours, organizer Jacob Holgate found 10,000+ fans to sign his petition, and the company responded in kind: “World of Warcraft” technical game designer Chadd Nervig responded to Holgate on Twitter: 'Yes. We're taking care of it.' Many have expressed a Robin Williams NPC to perform some of the late comedian's best jokes within the Worlds End Tavern, 'so that he may continue making us smile long after his passing.'"Link to Original Source

redletterdave (2493036) writes "Marques Brownlee is just 20 years old, but there’s arguably no one better on the internet when it comes to explaining new technologies to the average consumer. Even former Google VP Vic Gundotra called him 'the best technology reviewer on the planet right now.' YouTubers have taken notice of the young man: Brownlee's YouTube channel 'MKBHD' has more than 1.5 million subscribers and nearly 130 million total views on his 640+ videos. Still, he’s no overnight success: Brownlee has been working tirelessly for over five years, honing his craft by constantly producing and self-critiquing his videos to make the next ones easier to both make and watch."Link to Original Source

redletterdave (2493036) writes "Nintendo posted its third loss in four quarters on Wednesday. Even though Mario Kart 8, its big first-party game released in May, shipped more than 2.82 million copies by the end of June, the Mario-themed racing game was not enough to help Nintendo’s struggling Wii U console perform in this particular quarter. The company said it lost $97 million between March and June. Nintendo shipped 510,000 units of the Wii U in the June quarter, bringing the total to 6.68 million consoles sold — it’s a big jump from the 160,000 units it sold in the same quarter a year ago and a small improvement over the 310,000 units it sold in the March quarter. Still, the Wii U is still lagging behind the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, and Nintendo must also contend with mobile games available on Apple and Google’s app stores, which cost but a fraction of a Nintendo game."Link to Original Source

redletterdave (2493036) writes "Sharron Laverne Parrish Jr., 24, allegedly scammed Apple not once, but 42 times, cheating the company out of more than $300,000 — and his scam was breathtakingly simple. According to a Secret Service criminal complaint, Parrish allegedly visited Apple Stores and tried to buy products with four different debit cards, which were all closed by his respective financial institutions. When his debit card was inevitably declined by the Apple Store, he would protest and offer to call his bank — except, he wasn’t really calling his bank. So he would allegedly offer the Apple Store employees a fake authorization code with a certain number of digits, which is normally provided by credit card issuers to create a record of the credit or debit override. But that’s the problem with this system: as long as the number of digits is correct, the override code itself doesn’t matter."Link to Original Source

redletterdave (2493036) writes "In 2012, Apple introduced iOS 6 on June 11, and released the mobile operating system on Wednesday, Sept. 19 — exactly 100 days after its unveiling. The iPhone 5 launched two days later on Friday, Sept. 21. Last year, Apple unveiled iOS 7 on June 10, and released it on Sept. 18 — again, a Wednesday, and again, exactly 100 days after the unveiling. The iPhone 5S and 5C launched two days later on Friday, Sept. 20. This year, Apple unveiled iOS 8 on June 2. If the company wants to go 3-for-3 on its 100-day window between the public unveiling and launch dates, we may see iOS 8 launch on Wednesday, Sept. 10, which is, you guessed it, 100 days after it was unveiled at WWDC. And if Apple releases the new iPhone two days after iOS 8, as it’s done in the past, we may see the iPhone 6 release that Friday, Sept. 12."Link to Original Source

redletterdave (2493036) writes "Dan Petro, a security analyst for the Bishop Fox IT consulting firm, built a proof of concept device that’s able to hack into any Google Chromecasts nearby to project Rick Astley’s 'Never Gonna Give You Up,' or any other video a prankster might choose. The 'Rickmote,' which is built on top of the $35 Raspberry Pi single board computer, finds a local Chromecast device, boots it off the network, and then takes over the screen with multimedia of one’s choosing. But it gets worse for the victims: If the hacker leaves the range of the device, there’s no way to regain control of the Chromecast. Unfortunately for Google, this is a rather serious issue with the Chromecast device that’s not too easy to fix, as the configuration process is an essential part of the Chromecast experience."Link to Original Source

redletterdave (2493036) writes "Microsoft’s new CEO Satya Nadella offered an interesting answer when asked if his company could learn a thing or two from Google and its experimental X Labs that build the company’s 'moonshot' projects like Glass and the self-driving car: 'Always a lot to learn from people who market themselves well,' he said. Nadella’s comment may come across as subtle gamesmanship, but he’s also right. So far, Google’s Sergey Brin has done an excellent job drumming up hype for his company's semi-secret lab since 2010, but all of its current projects are in their infancy stages — in other words, nothing from Google X is ready for the public just yet."Link to Original Source